Tornadoes in Northwest Minnesota: July 16, 2008

At the opposite ends of Minnesota, two severe weather events happened in the same day. Along with the isolated flooding rains in southeast Minnesota, there were two weak tornadoes reported in Kittson and Marshall County in far northwestern Minnesota. The first happened at 8:30pm and began in North Dakota near the town of Drayton. This tornado crossed the Red River into Minnesota. Damage was relatively minor. Some trees were damaged and a road sign was bent. The tornado lifted at 8:41pm. A second tornado touched down at 9pm in Marshall County 3 miles NNW of Stephen. This was another weak tornado and broke branches off trees in shelter belts and caused some minor crop swirls.

Below are local storm reports courtesy the National Weather Service.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
708 PM CDT THU JUL 17 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0716 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     1 NE WALHALLA           48.93N 97.90W
07/16/2008                   PEMBINA            ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

0730 PM     HAIL             3 ENE LEROY             48.94N 97.69W
07/16/2008  M1.00 INCH       PEMBINA            ND   PUBLIC

0734 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     4 SE LEROY              48.88N 97.69W
07/16/2008                   PEMBINA            ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            PERSISTENT WALL CLOUD AND FUNNEL.

0735 PM     HAIL             5 W HANNAH              48.97N 98.80W
07/16/2008  E0.88 INCH       CAVALIER           ND   PUBLIC

0744 PM     HAIL             BACKOO                  48.84N 97.71W
07/16/2008  M0.88 INCH       PEMBINA            ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

0751 PM     HAIL             5 N CAVALIER            48.87N 97.62W
07/16/2008  E1.75 INCH       PEMBINA            ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

0751 PM     HAIL             BACKOO                  48.84N 97.71W
07/16/2008  E1.75 INCH       PEMBINA            ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

0800 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     DRESDEN                 48.83N 98.48W
07/16/2008                   CAVALIER           ND   EMERGENCY MNGR

            PERSISTENT WALL CLOUD WITH FUNNEL VIEWED.

0807 PM     TORNADO          4 NNE GLASSTON          48.76N 97.41W
07/16/2008  F1               PEMBINA            ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            FUNNEL VIEWED BY OBSERVERS. DAMAGE SURVEY FOUND EVIDENCE
            OF A BRIEF TOUCHDOWN WITH SEVERAL TREES SNAPPED OFF IN A
            SHELTER BELT. ESTIMATED PEAK WIND SPEED OF 95 MPH.

0821 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     4 WSW BOWESMONT         48.67N 97.26W
07/16/2008                   PEMBINA            ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            RAIN WRAPPED FUNNEL BRIEFLY VIEWED.

0832 PM     TORNADO          6 NNW DRAYTON           48.64N 97.23W
07/16/2008  F1               PEMBINA            ND   NWS STORM SURVEY

            TORNADO TRACKED FOR ABOUT 3 MILES FROM ABOUT 6 NNW OF
            DRAYTON TO ABOUT 4 NNE OF DRAYTON BEFORE CROSSING THE RED
            RIVER INTO KITTSON COUNTY MN BY 839 PM CDT. THE TORNADO
            CONTINUED INTO KITTSON COUNTY FOR ABOUT 1 MORE MILE
            BEFORE LIFTING ABOUT 10 WNW OF DONALDSON BY 841 PM CDT.
            THE TORNADO BROKE DOWN SEVERAL LARGE TREE BRANCHES BENT A
            ROAD SIGN AND PRODUCED MINOR CROP SWIRLS. PEAK WINDS
            ESTIMATED AT 90 MPH.

0835 PM     HAIL             8 N DRAYTON             48.68N 97.18W
07/16/2008  E1.75 INCH       PEMBINA            ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0839 PM     TORNADO          11 WNW DONALDSON        48.64N 97.12W
07/16/2008  F1               PEMBINA            ND   NWS STORM SURVEY

            TORNADO TRACKED FROM PEMBINA COUNTY AND CONTINUED FOR
            ABOUT 1 MILE TO 10 WNW OF DONALDSON BY 841 PM CDT.
            TORNADO BROKE DOWN SEVERAL LARGE TREE BRANCHES. PEAK
            WINDS ESTIMATED AT 90 MPH.

0849 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     5 ESE ROBBIN            48.55N 97.04W
07/16/2008                   KITTSON            MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0852 PM     HAIL             DONALDSON               48.57N 96.90W
07/16/2008  M1.00 INCH       KITTSON            MN   PUBLIC

0900 PM     TORNADO          4 NNW STEPHEN           48.51N 96.91W
07/16/2008  F0               MARSHALL           MN   NWS STORM SURVEY

            TORNADO TRACKED FOR NEARLY A MILE TO ABOUT 3 NNW OF
            STEPHEN BY 902 PM CDT. BRANCHES WERE BROKEN OFF IN
            SHELTER BELTS AND MINOR CROP SWIRLS WERE NOTED. PEAK
            WINDS ESTIMATED AT 80 MPH.

0921 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     5 NE ARGYLE             48.39N 96.74W
07/16/2008                   MARSHALL           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0945 PM     HAIL             5 W NEWFOLDEN           48.36N 96.44W
07/16/2008  M0.88 INCH       MARSHALL           MN   PUBLIC